It is well known that persons who drink hot beverages such as coffee and tea often like to alter the natural taste of their beverages by adding small quantities of cream and/or sugar (or their equivalents). When the beverages are to be dispensed on a self-serve basis, it is common to place small containers of cream and sugar next to an urn or pot or similar storage/dispensing for the beverage. Making small quantities of sugar or artificial sweeteners available to suit the individual tastes of a given person has not been a vexing problem, because sugar and artificial sweeteners can be safely stored at room temperature for a very long time. So, as long as empty containers are periodically picked up and discarded, there is essentially no difficulty in meeting the wishes of those who want to sweeten their coffee or tea. However, a dairy product--like cream--usually needs to be kept cold, or at least cool, in order to extend its "shelf" life, until it is consumed. (If cream is left at room temperature for an extended period of time, it can spoil, i.e., curdle, and lose its sweet taste.) In a cafeteria or the like, the quantity of cream that is consumed in a very few hours may justify a refrigerated holder/dispenser for cream, milk, or the product that is commonly known as half-and-half. But at a convenience store or sandwich shop, there may not be enough consumption of cream to justify a refrigerated holder/dispenser. Instead, relatively small containers of cream and the like are often placed at the serving area, where customers can help themselves to one or more containers after they have obtained their hot beverage.
To keep the contents of small containers reasonably fresh, it is a common practice to store a dozen or so containers in a shallow bath of ice and water (in an open-top bowl or tray). This technique may be serviceable for extending the shelf life of cream and the like, but it is really not very sanitary--because anyone who has germs on his or her hand will soon contaminate the entire bath during the act of reaching for a first container. A second person who reaches into the bath for a container of cream will then run the risk of coming into contact with whatever may have been introduced into the bath by the first person's dirty hands. And even hands that appear to be free of dirt can be carriers of germs and/or bacteria that have been picked up in a public restroom or from a door handle or telephone handset.
Too, it is common for the self-serve areas in most restaurants to have what is commonly called a "sneeze guard," which is a relatively large piece of transparent glass or rigid plastic that is suspended over stored food in such a way that a customer can see the food behind the guard--but the customer cannot accidentally sneeze directly onto the food. But it seems that no one has tried to offer equivalent protection for the open-top trays that hold small containers of cream and a bath of ice and cold water. Hence, any given person in a serving line, even if he or she is not partaking of the stored cream containers, can sneeze onto the bath and spread germs in an unwholesome manner. Children especially are not likely to realize the consequences of sneezing in the direction of things on a food-service counter. It is an object, therefore, to provide a device for storing a plurality of small containers in such a way that they can be kept cool for an extended period of time, without the need for a tray of ice and cold water (which can be messy) and without the need for placing another refrigerated appliance where it is accessible to the public.
Another object is to provide a device that can hold cream containers where they are visible to the public but relatively immune to being contaminated by the random spread of germs--by a person handling them or sneezing on them, etc.
It is another object to discourage the waste of creamer packets--by discouraging customers from grabbing a handful of packets just because they are present and readily available, in what may be described as a bulk condition.
A further object is to promote the sale of a new flavor or brand of coffee (or tea) in a convenience store or cafeteria, by providing a new space to advertise the flavor/brand in the vicinity of the dispenser of that particular beverage.
These and other objects will be apparent from a careful study of the disclosure that follows, along with reference to the drawings provided herewith.